is there a good way or faster way to pay off student loans?

Question

my student loans are getting up there.... when i graduate hows the best way to handle them.... i am like at 20,000 now... its scarying me!

Answer 1

If you have unsubsidized loans, pay toward those first as they accrue interest while you are in school. Subsidized loans don't begin accruing interest until six months after you cease to be enrolled at least half-time. There is no penalty for paying your loans off early.

There are also some loan forgiveness provisions for students in specific careers. Check with your financial aid office for more information.

Answer 2

The best thing to do is consolidate your student loans into one 5 months after college graduation. It will fix the interest rate and lower the payment. I recommend paying more than the loan payment if allowed and would go to the principle. I recommend joining Upromise because the amount saved there could be applied to the student loan 4 times a year. I recommend applying for scholarships starting now to minimalize the need for student loans possibly. I will include some links below which should help. Good luck!

Answer 3

I would say pay off any high interest credit cards first. If your job seems stable, I'd say keep paying off the way you are especially since you are saving 500 a month. If things start to seem shaky, maybe don't lower the payment to like 550 or something for a while and save the difference. I wish I could do what you're doing... my loans are like almost 50,000... they're deferred right now coz i'm back in school but at one point my minimum payment was $450.. CRAZINESS! Good luck!

Answer 4

You should contact the institution which gave you the loans, I have Sallie Mae, and they were really good about consolidating the loans and giving me a lower interest rate. The good thing about student loans is you don't have to pay them off immediately after graduation (they are usually deferred for about 6 months) and after that you may be able to file for a forbearance if you are having trouble financially (with a small penalty.)

Answer 5

dont borrow more than you need. and when you get spare money, dump it into paying it off. the sooner you pay it off, the sooner the interest stops growing. if you go the full term of the loan, you might end up paying double what you borrowed. if you can get it paid fast, then you would be better off. the first thing you do after college is consolidate them together. if you dont, you will have like 10 different payments to make at the same time. and believe me, that is crazy.